Harold Joe Waldrum (August 23, 1934 – December 13, 2003) was an American artist whose abstract works depict color studies especially of the old
adobe churches of
Northern New Mexico. He also used a
Polaroid SX-70 camera to photograph many of the churches, initially as part of the process in creating his paintings. However, this collection of thousands of photographs became a body of work in and of itself and was exhibited at several galleries and museums.

Before pursuing an artistic career, Waldrum graduated from
Western State College and became a public school teacher in
Kansas, where he taught music and art for a decade-and-a-half. After receiving a graduate degree from
Fort Hays State College in 1970, he became a full-time painter, moving to New Mexico, the focal point of much of his work.

In the later part of his career, Waldrum endeavored to preserve the historic churches that were the inspiration for his paintings. In 1985, he founded an organization to promote this goal and produced a series of documentaries about the deterioration and ultimately demolition of the churches. In the 1980s and 90s, he collaborated with a few
printmakers to create a collection of
aquatint etchings and
linocuts in a style very similar to his paintings.

Biography

Early life

Waldrum was born on August 23, 1934, in
Savoy, Texas.[1][2] He attended the
Western State College, graduating from the
Colorado school with a music degree. He then began working as a music and art teacher in the public schools around
Kansas. He remained a teacher for about 14[1] or 16 years.[3]

Waldrum continued his education at
Fort Hays State College.[3] He graduated summa cum laude[2] with a master’s degree in studio art in 1970.[1] Waldrum remained at the school for an additional year, as a teacher and head of the graduate art program.[3]

Career

Waldrum first began painting in the later part of the 1950s.[1] It was not until 1971 that he decided to abandon his teaching career and dedicate himself to his painting. To do so, he first moved to
Tesuque, New Mexico.[3] However, he did not remain in one place for too long and often moved to different places in
New Mexico.[2] It was here that he began working on a decade-long series of paintings that gave the audience a narrow vantage point of his subject matter, the
adobe buildings of the
American Southwest.[1][3] The "window series" explored the tripartite form to make "studies of color, weight and value."[4]

In 1975, Waldrum briefly established a home studio in the
Penitente village of Gusano, near
Pecos and south of
San Ysidro del Norte in
San Miguel County.[3][4][5] However, the following year, he had to flee to
Texas and then even to Mexico, fearing for his life. On May 27, 1976, he had become involved in a dispute with several young men in the village, one of whom he had shot and killed.[6] According to Waldrum, he had killed the man in self-defense.[2][3] The next night, Waldrum’s home and studio were burned down;[6] he lost much of his artwork and all of his belongings.[2][3]

Soon after this incident, Waldrum moved to
New York, returning only in the summer months to paint in New Mexico. He did not permanently move back to the state until 1979, when he took up residence in
Taos, New Mexico and worked in the same building that once served as the former studio for
Joseph Henry Sharp,[2] part of the
Couse/Sharp Historic Site. During this time, his subject matter became more focused on the many adobe churches and
Penitente moradas in the New Mexico.[7][4] He began using a
Polaroid SX-70 to capture angles and light conditions, but soon the photographs became artworks in their own right; throughout his life, he would capture nearly 9,000 Polaroid photographs, many of which are held at the photographic archives of the New Mexico History Museum at the
Palace of Governors.[2]

In 1985, Waldrum established the El Valle Foundation and began an effort to help preserve the buildings that were the focal point of many of his paintings.[2] In partnership with Jim Heese, he also produced a videotape, documenting the failed efforts to preserve the church located in
El Valle.[8] The videotape culminates in the demolition of the building after significant deterioration due to lack of proper maintenance.[9] They also created a series of videos documenting other churches, in
Las Trampas and
Picuris Pueblo, which were aired in local television channels.[10] According to art historian Mary Anne Redding, Waldrum had “campaigned tirelessly to let people know how significant these structures were and why it was important to preserve them, not just as spiritual centers for isolated communities, but also to maintain the history and culture of Spanish New Mexico.”[2] His efforts were not all in vain; they did succeed in preserving a few of the churches in part due to their efforts.[4] Waldrum and Heese also produced videos showing artists at work, including Waldrum,
Larry Bell,
Alyce Frank, and Melissa Zink.[10] In the 1980s, he also engaged
printmaker
Robert Blanchard of Albuquerque for assistance in creating a series of
aquatint etchings and
linocuts based on his abstract depictions of southwestern architecture.[4]

Later years and legacy

In 1989, Waldrum moved farther south, to a ranch in the mountains between
Albuquerque and
Socorro, New Mexico, where he lived until 1997.[11] In 1994, he published an autobiography entitled Ando en Cueros (I Walk Stark Naked), perhaps a reference to his propensity for working in the nude.[4] He also raised mules and lived in relative seclusion until the painter
Delmas Howe persuaded him to move again in 1996.[2]

Waldrum moved to
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and established the Rio Bravo Fine Art Gallery in 1997. He first worked in a building on Main Street but then, according to Waldrum, he traded several of his prints and paintings to purchase a building, which was a former
Ace Hardware store. The building served not only as an exhibition space for Rio Bravo but also as his personal studio.[7] His gallery continues in operation today, showing artists of the region.[12]

Waldrum lived in Truth or Consequences until his death on December 13, 2003.[13] Before his death, he often traveled to Albuquerque to work with the printmaker Michael Costello, as Blanchard had retired. Waldrum was buried in a cemetery near the
Mexico–United States border in
Columbus, New Mexico.[14]